Collection of racial data by four Chittenden County police departments is underway, and will be examined for signs of racial profiling.
The voluntary effort — which involves departments in Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, and the University of Vermont — is the result of complaints by minority residents that police were stopping them more often than Caucasian drivers, simply because of their skin color. (more…)
What you choose to read says a lot about who you are, what you value, and what you believe. That’s why libraries and the ACLU have long defended the privacy of readers.
But protecting reader privacy rights in the digital era is tough.
Gov. James Douglas is now head of the National Governors Association. At the group’s meeting this week in Biloxi, Miss., he heard complaints from other governors about why the federal REAL ID initiative is not a good idea. He’s coming around to their way of thinking.
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It was a case of what psychologists term “post-termination intrusive behavior.”
A male Vermont high school student was disappointed over a relationship with a female school friend. He sent her e-mails, waited for her after classes, and tried to meet her other places. She grew tired of his persistence and told him to back off.
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A lot of things around national security issues have happened very quickly in the last few weeks.
They have come as a wave of concern was growing about the direction the Obama administration was headed concerning practices left over from the Bush administration.
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Social Security Numbers are thought by many to be secure IDs. We’re often asked to provide them, even sometimes for fairly routine purchases or services such as contracting for cell phone service.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, though, have shown it’s easy to guess many people’s SSN — simply by knowing a person’s place and date of birth.
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The Washington Superior Court has granted the ACLU of Vermont`s request for a preliminary injunction in the case of Christopher Hagan, who is contesting a Barre ordinance that excludes individuals convicted of a sex offense from living in large sections of the city.
The court agreed with the ACLU`s argument that Vermont municipalities do not have the authority to enact such ordinances, noting that “Dillon`s Rule is still applicable in Vermont, and the court is unconvinced by the claim that a special exception exists for the City of Barre,” and holding that Mr. Hagan is “highly likely to succeed on the merits of this claim.”
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The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled in an 8-1 decision that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip-searched her based on a classmate`s uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen.
The case had drawn national attention. It arose from an incident six years ago at a rural eastern Arizona school, Safford Middle School. The target of the search, Savana Redding, along with her mother were represented by the ACLU.
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The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to try to learn more about searches of laptop computers and other devices carried by travelers crossing into the U.S.
A year ago CBP issued a policy that permits officials to search laptops and similar devices without suspicion of wrongdoing. The ACLU wants to know how the searches square with the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches, and other constitutional protections.
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